


I'd Just Like To

by corgiwankenobi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Rating May Change, idiot sort-of exes to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27632768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgiwankenobi/pseuds/corgiwankenobi
Summary: “So, are you still in that cult?” Anakin asked with his familiar teasing grin.Only years of familiarity with Anakin kept Obi-Wan from spitting out his tea. “It’s a fraternity, not a cult.”They could do this, he thought. They could retread familiar territory and jokes without it turning into an emotional minefield.----AKA The coffee shop au where neither of them work in a coffee shop. Anakin just runs into his sort-of-ex he's not over there.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 16
Kudos: 66





	I'd Just Like To

Keys jingled in Anakin’s hand with each step as he tromped down the stairs leading to the entrance of the Loth-Cat cafe. It was an inconspicuous little place, tucked out of sight, with nothing but a chalkboard sign and a bunch of inflated Yelp reviews to indicate it was even there. Honestly, Anakin had walked right past it the first time he came to pick up Ahsoka. He couldn’t say he’d ever bother coming back either if not for the fact his roommate worked there.

Anakin stepped into the coffee shop and squinted through the dim lighting, spotting Ahsoka’s trademark white and blue hair that stood out amid the sea of patrons in their dark beanies. He waved to Ahsoka and made his way over to the counter where a second moody barista pointedly ignored him in favor of her phone—not bothering with even a pained customer service smile or any human interaction. It’s not like Anakin counted as a proper customer anyway.

“The usual for you, Skyguy?” Ahsoka chirped when she returned, and dipped behind the counter to set down her tray.

“Please. It’s freezing outside.”

“Why do you think I texted you?”

“I knew you were only using me for my car,” Anakin griped, but there was no real ire in it. It wasn’t any trouble to pick Ahsoka up on his way home since she couldn’t afford a car of her own and all it entailed. 

“Always,” Ahsoka agreed.

The two shared a comfortable silence while Ahsoka finished preparing Anakin’s drink. It was only interrupted when the second barista slipped past Ahsoka and headed for the entrance.

“I’m going on break before you clock out,” she called as she stepped out the door to smoke on the gloomy porch outside.

“You might want to have a seat,” Ahsoka sighed as she finally handed over Anakin’s drink. “She’ll be a while.”

Anakin nodded and turned from the counter to find a place to sit.

The Loth-Cat was the kind of hipster dive that prided itself on its anti-establishment ambiance. Brick walls boasted a smattering of local art and flyers. Students and writers perched like gargoyles over their laptops in the handful of rickety dining room chairs and tables at the back of the shop. Meanwhile each squishy, disturbingly velvety chair and chipped coffee table near the front of the shop had been lovingly selected from the finest dumpsters and 70’s living rooms.

With little choice, Anakin waded through the clusters of “comfortable” furniture, spotting an empty puke green armchair near the window with only one other person nearby. He doubted they’d be too bothered if he took a seat and fiddled around on his phone for a few minutes, since there wasn’t much to look at out the window except for a few tables and the stairs leading up to street level.

It was only as he sat down and his new temporary neighbor looked up that Anakin realized he made a mistake.

“Anakin?” That familiar accented voice asked, and Anakin tried not to choke on his own spit when the gut punch of old lingering fondness and regret hit him.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin managed a half smile. “It’s been a while.” Four years, not that it mattered.

“It has,” Obi-Wan agreed and glanced around, his discomfort obvious. “I’m surprised to see you here. Last I knew you hated coffee shops.”

A small part of Anakin was miffed that Obi-Wan presumed to know anything about him anymore. After all, Obi-Wan had obviously changed as well if the new shorter, more mature hairstyle and full beard he sported were anything to go by. Anakin shoved that annoyance aside, and deflected with humor instead.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call the dirt-and-battery-acid flavored water they serve here coffee.”

Obi-Wan let out a surprised laugh at that, finally meeting Anakin’s gaze again, and something in Anakin settled a little. 

“No, you’re right,” Obi-Wan said. “I stick to tea here more than I would anywhere else.”

“Ahsoka makes me hot cocoa,” Anakin added, raising his cup. “Even she won’t drink the other stuff.”

“A wise choice.”

“I definitely wouldn’t come here if my roommate didn’t work here.” Anakin only realized how awkward that sounded after he said it. What did it matter who Ahsoka was to him? He didn’t have to specify his relationships with others.

“You’re just a tragic victim of circumstance,” Obi-Wan teased, apparently unbothered by Anakin’s admission.

“What about you? What has you slumming it with the college students and moody baristas?”

“Ah well, I have a meeting later, and it’s close by.”

An awkward pause settled between them as they ran out of safe innocuous topics. Neither of them brave enough to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Anakin refused to resort to actually talking about the weather though.

“So, are you still in that cult?” Anakin asked with his familiar teasing grin.

Only years of familiarity with Anakin kept Obi-Wan from spitting out his tea. “It’s a fraternity, not a cult,” he said with an amused huff. “And yes, technically. Membership to a fraternity is often for life.”

“So they go all Hotel California on you? Check out anytime you like, but you can never leave?”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous,” Obi-Wan said, but there was no heat in it.

“If you say so,” Anakin mumbled into his cup, hiding a smile. They could do this, he thought. They could retread familiar territory and jokes without it turning into an emotional minefield.

“What about you?” Obi-Wan asked. “Still speeding down backroads in death traps?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mm.”

“So, how long are you visiting?”

“Actually, I moved back recently,” Obi-Wan admitted. “Bail offered me a job a while ago.”

“Nepotism at its finest?”

“Of course. What else are friends for?” Obi-Wan said with an eye-roll. “What about you? Are you still working at that mechanic’s shop?”

“Not anymore. It’s uh… It’s a long story,” Anakin said with a shrug, willing himself to act naturally. “I’m a maintenance tech now. Nothing impressive.”

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short, Anakin. I could easily name a dozen people who can’t fix a leaky faucet, including myself.”

Anakin’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest as he struggled to come up with a response. He hadn’t forgotten, per se, how Obi-Wan looked for the good in people. But it had been a long time since someone other than his friends had anything other than disdain for him or his job.

“You mentioned a roommate?” Obi-Wan asked, changing the subject from painful familiar territory and saving Anakin from his floundering. “And since I don’t see Padmé, I assume she finally got sick of you cleaning carburetors at the table.”

“That was one time! And no, she and Sabé wanted to find something a little closer to Sabé’s new job when the lease was up. So I got to field about a dozen creeps from craigslist before Ahsoka answered.”

“Of course you posted an ad on there.”

“I think it worked out. I mean she didn’t ask to bring a deadbeat boyfriend, or seem like she’d murder me in my sleep.”

“Such high standards.”

“Freedom!” Came Ahsoka’s familiar voice causing Anakin to flinch only slightly as she crashed into his side. “Who’s your handsome stranger, Skyguy?”

“Obi-Wan, this rude little one is my roommate, Ahsoka,” Anakin said, trying to edge out of Ahsoka’s suddenly strong grasp. “Snips, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan greeted her with a polite handshake, which Ahsoka barely returned.

“Likewise,” Ahsoka replied, and finally released Anakin so she could shrug into her jacket. “You look kind of familiar, now that I think about it.”

“That’s because Padmé still has photos of us all,” Anakin explained.

“Wait, the guy with the baby face?” Ahsoka choked, fixing Obi-Wan with an incredulous and somewhat spiteful stare. “No wonder you grew a beard.” 

Obi-Wan suddenly seemed to find the bottom of his tea mug very interesting, and Anakin felt himself turning red.

“Thanks, Snips,” Anakin groaned, and barely restrained himself from hiding his face in his hands.

“What? It’s true.” Ahsoka mumbled. She couldn’t do anything worse, luckily. Not if she wanted to keep her job, which Anakin hoped she did since money was tight enough as it was.

“Easy there, Snips,” Anakin said, and attempted to dispel the rising tension with a hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder. “We’re cool. Right, Obi-Wan?”

“Of course. Bygones and all that,” Obi-Wan agreed, clearly wanting the conversation over as much as Anakin.

“Alright, but I’m dragging you away now. I want to get home and forget I have feet for a while,” Ahsoka grumbled, but her tone clear that she wasn’t ready to drop the topic. 

“Right,” Anakin agreed and grabbed his cup and keys.

“It was good to see you again, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said.

“Uh, likewise,” Anakin replied. “Bye, Obi-Wan.”

Anakin and Ahsoka left the shop in silence that continued until they were in the car, where Ahsoka warmed her hands on the heating vents while Anakin pulled into traffic.

“So that’s the infamous heartbreaker Obi-Wan, huh?” Ahsoka asked, feigning disinterest. “The one you cried on Padmé’s shoulder about for like three hours?”

“Yep,” came Anakin’s clipped reply, but Ahsoka wouldn’t be deterred so easily.

“Funny, he doesn’t really seem like your type. I always figured he was some kind of rebel with the long hair in his photos.”

“He had his moments, but he was also a philosophy and poli sci student.”

“What exactly was he planning to do with that degree?” Ahsoka huffed. She’d looked into college exactly once, and decided that it wasn’t for her, but she understood which degrees were more marketable.

“Law school, apparently,” Anakin said with a shrug, not daring to look away from the stoplight at their turn. “It’s what he left for anyway.”

“Did his parents crack down on him to find something that pays his bills?”

Anakin laughed at that. “Nah, Qui-Gon’s the traveling hippy sort who I’m pretty sure lives in his van half the year. He seemed pretty hands-off as long as Obi-Wan wasn’t getting into too much trouble. Papa Dooku probably had some input though.”

“Papa Dooku?” Ahsoka snorted at the ridiculous nickname.

Anakin nodded and took the next turn.

“Obi-Wan’s grandfather, Dooku of Serrano,” he recited, affecting a terrible posh accent. “I think he’s descended from a count or something.”

“Is that even a real name?”

“It’s the only name he ever gave me the one time we met. Besides, we can’t really cast stones, can we?” Anakin said as he pulled into their apartment’s designated parking space.

“Fair,” Ahsoka replied and stepped out of the car. “Thanks again for the ride. Sorry it got all awkward for you.”

Anakin threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into an awkward sideways hug as he tried not to spill his drink or drop his keys. “It’s not a big deal, Snips. A little weird, but that’s life.”

Anakin gave her a smile and a gentle nudge toward the entrance of their building. Ahsoka glanced at Anakin’s overly full left hand and bounded up the steps and punched in their access code, stepping aside to hold the door open for Anakin. The walk to their apartment was a short one given they had the (noisiest and cheapest) one right next to the front door.

“Just saying, if you want someone to poison his tea, I know a girl,” Ahsoka teased while they kicked off their shoes, and she grabbed Anakin’s cocoa cup from him while he shrugged out of his coat.

“He and I weren’t even really dating, Snips.” Anakin said as he placed his and Ahsoka’s coats in the closet. “Poisoning him for that seems a little harsh.”

“Yeah, but still,” Ahsoka grumbled and curled up on the couch. “It was _something_.”

“Yeah. It was something,” Anakin sighed before he went to a tall tower-like cage in the corner of the living room and called a large black and white ferret out.

“Letting Artoo loose,” Anakin called over his shoulder as he opened the bottom cage door, and Artoo immediately scrambled across the floor to the couch.

Ahsoka hoisted Artoo up onto the couch next to her and stroked the ferret’s sleek fur for a few minutes while Anakin started to clean the cage and litter. It was one of their rituals to let Artoo have some supervised play time in the apartment after they got home. She’d been a bit hesitant at first, given that Artoo was a bit smelly and noisy, but she’d grown to enjoy the simple interaction when she was unwinding from a long shift.

“Did you have Artoo when Obi-Wan was around?” Ahsoka asked.

“No. Padmé and I just had Threepio back then,” Anakin replied, and Ahsoka smiled at the mention of the golden bunny Padmé still kept. “She gave me Artoo just before she moved out so I wouldn’t be lonely.”

Seeing that Anakin was done cleaning Artoo’s cage, Ahsoka set the ferret aside and helped Anakin gather up anything that needed to go to the dumpster. She also set out a few toys and picked up anything important Artoo might _think_ was a toy while Anakin braved the cold to take the trash out.

It was...interesting getting this peek into Anakin’s previous life. Ahsoka had come along over two years after Obi-Wan had left, and she’d never really known anything about the man. He was something of a ghost that cropped up in many of the stories Padmé and Anakin shared, always with a hint of nostalgia as they detailed their exploits. It was somewhat hard for Ahsoka to reconcile what she knew of Anakin’s and Padmé’s youthful indiscretions and wild tales with some beardy, suit-wearing, posh-sounding lawyer who ordered tea and carried an actual briefcase.

When Anakin returned from the garbage run and washed his hands, Ahsoka couldn’t contain her curiosity and pestered him for more details.

“So what did you and serious political lawyer boy do for fun?” She asked.

“You have a lot of questions,” Anakin huffed and flicked water in her general direction, but Ahsoka was undeterred and gestured for him to join her and Artoo in the living room.

Upon seeing Anakin take a seat on the floor next to the couch, Artoo chirped and ran around with a small tug toy in his mouth until Anakin gave in and grabbed the other end.

“You and Padmé still talk about him,” Ahsoka said, finally. “I mean not really. You talk _around_ him, and it’s obvious you all were really close. So I know it was like this whole big deal, and the mystery is killing me.”

Ahsoka slumped down on the couch, scooting a bit closer to Anakin. In the almost two years they’d been roommates, he really had become her family. She would never say it, but she hoped Anakin felt the same way.

Anakin sighed, probably a bit annoyed she was prying, but he didn’t seem too upset.

“Well, for fun we used to race dirt bikes,” Anakin finally admitted.

Ahsoka jerked her head up and shoved at Anakin’s shoulder. “No way! Now I know you’re lying.”

“I’m not!” Anakin insisted, putting his hands up in defense. “You can ask Padmé, even.”

“Dirt bikes though? Really?” Ahsoka just couldn’t see it.

“Yeah, Cody and Rex’s family had a bunch, and we would go with them some weekends out to the track and just go riding. And of course we were all really competitive and used to start racing.”

“Of course you did.”

“Obi-Wan complained the whole time that we rode like maniacs, but he had no trouble keeping up. He also had a motorcycle,” Anakin explained. “Apparently he blew a bunch of money Papa Dooku gave him for a ‘sensible car’ on it, and Dooku was pissed. Pretty sure that bike is like one of the top three reasons I ever slept with him though,” he added with a conspiratorial grin.

“So he was a rebel! I knew it!”

“He was... interesting, that’s for sure. Very ‘do as I say and not as I do’. While he was fine with drinking at parties and bars and us running around like idiots on dirt bikes, he had a fit when he found out I was street racing.”

Ahsoka shot him a very unimpressed look. “Well to be fair, one of those things is illegal.”

“He did his fair share of sketchy stuff, trust me. He was just smart about not getting caught.”

“So super-smart, hot, philosophical lawyer-in-training who also happened to be a bit of a bad boy, huh?” Ahsoka asked, and delighted in the dopey grin it put on Anakin’s face. “I guess I can see the appeal.”

“It wasn’t all bad.”

“So what happened?” Ahsoka asked. She knew she was pushing her luck and she wouldn’t ask again if Anakin didn’t answer.

“He had the chance to go Ivy League, so he left. It’s not like we were ever official or anything. We were just fooling around, and didn’t bother to keep in touch.” Anakin explained, and the resignation—the lingering grief in his tone broke Ahsoka’s heart.

She didn’t have to ask if it was mutual. She could guess between the old money family and expensive education, Anakin probably hadn’t even been a factor in the decision.

Ahsoka looked around at their tiny two bedroom apartment they could only afford because Anakin hadn’t moved in years. They constantly joked about the neighbor’s antics that they could hear through the thin walls, and both ignored that the bathroom sink was cracked at the rim, and the closet doors didn’t stay shut. She didn’t care if their neighborhood was a little sketchy at night because she could take care of herself, and Anakin refused to let her walk alone in the dark. It wasn’t some picturesque ideal, but they had a place to sleep, usually enough to eat, and they loved each other in their own weird sibling-like way.

Ahsoka bit her lip and wondered what some fancy-pants lawyer thought of this life.

She viciously shoved those thoughts and insecurities aside and patted Artoo. The ferret chirped back at her and Ahsoka teased him with an old sock, trying to distract herself and Anakin.

“So, you still got that interview tomorrow?” Anakin asked, clearly finished dwelling on the topic. “At that place with the weird bird logo?”

“Morai, yeah,” Ahsoka said with a nod.

“Think you’ll get it?”

“Hope so,” Ahsoka sighed. “Pay and hours are better than the Loth-Cat, even if it’s a bit further away.”

“Are you going to be okay with the commute?” Anakin’s brow furrowed with worry, and Ahsoka rolled her eyes at his protectiveness.

“I’ll be fine. It’s only a half hour walk and I can catch a bus if I need to.”

“Alright,” Anakin relented. “Just don’t freeze to death, Snips. I don’t want to have to find a new roommate.”

“Don’t worry Skyguy. You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Ahsoka said, wrapping one of her hand’s around Anakin’s. “I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written in about four years, but it felt good to try again.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @ [corgiwankenobi](https://corgiwankenobi.tumblr.com/)


End file.
